Not being 100% fully housebroken
– This is actually quite common as an issue misidentified as marking. Your Yorkie may very well pee and poo when you bring him outside. But this in and of itself does not mean that your dog is
trained.
If you are timing it just right, your Yorkie may just be urinating and eliminating where he stands, which is in the designated bathroom area. But, this is a matter of convenience, timing and coincidence, not of the dog truly understanding that he is following guidelines; in reality, he only followed his owner out the door and to the bathroom spot.
One element that can hinder dogs from learning is if they are brought out too often. Owners may see this as a good method of avoiding accidents, but it can backfire. Puppies do not have full control of their bladder and bowel muscles. This is why they often have to pee every couple of hours.
As a Yorkie matures, he can learn to
exercise
those muscles and gain more control over them… but only if he is given the opportunity. If his owner took him out every 2 hours as a 2 month old puppy, but then continued to do so at the 4 month mark, that pup will have not had a chance to try and hold his needs for a longer time.
For this reason, it’s important to closely supervise your Yorkie and work toward this goal, should you believe this is contributing toward the issue of peeing indoors.
Another element is that dogs do best when they can connect a trigger or command word to an action. They also have a better chance of success if they are praised and rewarded for an action. Therefore, a Yorkie needs to know what he/she is doing and then needs to learn why.
This can be resolved by using certain words every time you bring your Yorkie out to go to the bathroom.
Good examples are ‘Let’s go pee poo, Bella!’ or ‘Bathroom! Charlie!’. All that matters is that you chose certain words and use them continually.
While the Yorkie is in doing his business, repeat the trigger word included in a short, praising phrase; example: ‘Good pee, Roxy!’ or ‘Good, you’re going to the bathroom!’. Just be sure to not say this so loudly or enthusiastically that it becomes a distraction.
As soon as the Yorkie is done doing the deed, now is the time to give great praise and reward. Once a dog is fully trained, treat rewards are not needed any longer, but can go a long way in quickly gaining a good understanding.
Health issues
– This is another common reason. There is a number of
health issues
that can cause a dog to lose control of their bladder. This includes but is not limited to urinary tract infection (UTI), bladder infection, bladder stones, kidney infection, kidney stones and diabetes.